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ST. PAUL - Lawmakers are considering closing Minnesota's two state-run walleye and muskie fish hatcheries. Rep. Denny McNamara, R-Hastings, brought the bill, saying private business grows walleye fingerlings 37 percent cheaper than the Department of Natural Resources and can produce a more consistent size of young fish. McNamara said that ending the state's hatchery programs will prevent unfair competition between the public and private sectors. The state buys large amounts of fish from the private sector anyway, he said.

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. - Mahnomen County Sheriff Doug Krier said he has witnessed law enforcement officers' generosity. The sheriff on Friday told incoming Minnesota State Patrol officers about the support and assistance his office and the family of Mahnomen sheriff's Deputy Christopher Dewey received after Dewey was shot while on duty in February. Officers from all over Minnesota and elsewhere responded almost immediately after Dewey was severely injured while investigating a report of gunshots in the northwestern Minnesota town of Mahnomen.

As light snow fell early Wednesday afternoon, sandbaggers worked to keep water from reaching a house north of Bemidji. The house, where Jeremy and Michelle Leffelman and their three children live, was threatened by flood waters. "It's just, I don't know, unreal," Michelle Leffelman said in her driveway as she held a bag open and another person filled it with sand. "Luckily the house is still dry on the inside." The Leffelmans moved to the housing development off Whiting Road Northwest a couple of years ago. "I've never seen it like this," Michelle Leffelman said.

As technology advances, so does research on - and evidence against - the Kensington Runestone. With each new test, there is more proof that the stone, unearthed in 1898 by Olof Ohman on his farm near Kensington, is authentic and not a hoax. During the Runestone Museum's "A Night at the Museum" fundraiser Friday night, Dr. Richard Nielsen, a consulting engineer and linguistic expert, shared his findings of the 3-D imaging that was performed on the Kensington Runestone in October of 2008. Nielsen, who has been studying the stone for years, was in charge of the 3D imaging project.

Come Monday, the value of a Duluth home probably will be less than it was the week before. For the first time in at least three decades, the city assessor's office is lowering residential property values by 3 percent across the board, marking a reflection in the city's slumping home sales. "I'm about to give the mayor and the budget office a little bit of a decrease in the property tax base, probably for the first time in 30 years," said John Gellatly, the city assessor.

ST. PAUL - State officials are ramping up their Red River Valley flood assistance and asking the federal government for similar efforts. As northwestern Minnesota communities fought rising floodwater amid rain and a snow storm, Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Wednesday sought an expedited federal disaster declaration. Pawlenty sent a letter to President Barack Obama asking for a speedy disaster declaration for the Red River Valley region.

Sports, restaurants and graphic novels make a variety of good reads. Baseball is getting underway, so for a behind-the-scenes look could I suggest "Under the March Sun: The Story of Spring Training," by Charles Fountain (Oxford University Press, $24.95)? Northeastern University journalism professor Fountain has finally told us the story of how spring training got started about 100 years ago. It was definitely a shoestring operation, designed to work the winter fat off overindulgent Sultans of Swat from both leagues.

Rules to mandate automatic fire sprinklers in new homes constructed after Jan. 1, 2011, will be delayed, the state Department of Labor and Industry says. In a decision announced Monday in a letter to code officials, design professionals and contractors, the state agency cited four criteria in its decision not to move forward with the adoption of the 2009 building code recommendations that include the mandatory sprinkler provision.

FARGO - Emily Dewey is vigilant of her husband Christopher's recovery from the gunshot wounds he suffered last week while on duty as a Mahnomen County sheriff's deputy. "I want everyone to see how amazing he's doing, but I'm very protective," Dewey said earlier today, adding that she tells her husband to rest and that she's worried about him picking up an infection. Emily Dewey also wants Christopher to concentrate on the road to recovery, so she has yet to share much of the details with him surrounding the Feb.